When April showers turn into downpours from May through September, it can be hard to plan an outdoor wedding during those months. It’s really a tough time to ensure that guests, along with the bride and groom, don’t get drenched on the big day or have other problems.

A few things to consider when planning an outdoor wedding:

• Work with your wedding consultant to develop a backup plan. If the weather forecast calls for rain on the day of the wedding, it may be wise to move the ceremony indoors. However, it may be too late if plans are not made ahead of time.

• If it rains a few hours prior to the start of the wedding, ground and landscape may still be wet, making it difficult to take pictures beforehand or other details. You might consider taking specific shots weeks ahead or after to avoid dealing with bad weather.

• Make sure to have someone ready with towels to wipe down guests’ chairs before the event. It may be necessary to delay setting up chairs at the venue depending on when rain is expected. Also, pollen on the chairs may be an issue and need to be removed before guests are seated.

• Although the event will be outside, it may be helpful to have a few covered areas available if a brief shower pops up to give guests shelter until it passes or umbrellas are made available.

• Make sure to have umbrellas available should a quick rainstorm pop up. The bride and groom, along with the minister, will definitely be grateful to ensure the main event is not interrupted. Next, the bridal party and important family members need to have umbrellas available. Then other guests will likely be able to share them to escape the weather.

Outdoor weddings also present several other challenges such as heat or chilly temperatures. Ideas to help may be to distribute souvenir fans to guests to combat the heat or have a basket of lightweight blankets available to guests if the weather turns chilly.

Make an appointment to visit our event planning staff at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club to make sure all the details of your big day are planned for including weather challenges. Our blog also provides other great wedding planning tips.